So I spent a while looking for that one shard over there when I snapped to my senses and said “Shit, Mrs. McP won’t be gone forever, get going.”

So I went back, loaded up, and prepared to MARCH UPON THE BREACH! and got a cutscene and watched the cutscene and was confused cuz, that’s it?

Except it wasn’t it and you know that, so I did the rest of the it, and then Mrs. McP got home EARLY and I had to rush through some stuff and I taunted the guy and launched myself out of a trebuchet and that’s it. I’m at “Find a way forward.”

Questions: 1) Who’s this Cole dude? I kinda missed what he said when he came to my door except “Bad guys. Over there.” Or something. 2) Did the big baddie say HE was an “Old God?” Or he saw some in the fade when he was there? Or there are no Old Gods? I kinda missed that. Cuz that Old God stuff has happened before. You know, that used to be pillow talk. 3) Speaking of pillow talk…..where is she?

Thoughts: 1) That was well done. Appropriately harrowing. Leaving optional quests to save people THAT YOU COULD FAIL was pretty well done. I didn’t get to the tavern keeper, and heard her scream when the roof caved in. That bothers me. Not going to replay it, but the whole “You may be chosen but you aren’t saving everyone” is a nice touch of ME-style grit that Bioware hasn’t chucked into DA until now. I was tense, scared, felt the sense of loss. Nice sequence. 2) Never take two rogues to defend a trebuchet. Especially if you know your wife is on the way home and you have limited time which leads me to 3) They really shouldn’t call the lesser difficulty setting “casual.” They should call it “Look, I COULD do this on normal but my wife came home early and I’ve already died twice and I really, really need to get past this sequence to get to a place to save it so my wife doesn’t get mad at me.” Casual seems so judgy. 4) Don’t judge me.5) I liked that they sorta redeemed Roderick. Or, at the very least, revealed him as a guy with his heard in the right place. (Side note: Why do I equate helping ME with redemption? Another post) They did that in games past in the epilogue, a la Bhelin/Harrowmount not being the “right” choice, but it makes more narrative sense to do it in game. 6) Do NOT grab a supply cache just cuz it’s there. You may well a) be going back that way and b) need that damn crate.

Feminina:

1) I also wondered who the hell this Cole dude was. All shall be revealed.

2) Corypheus (which apparently is the evil Elder One’s name, and everyone knows this, even though I didn’t actually hear him say his name ever? And neither did you it seems?) was a little hazy on whether he used to be a god, or just plans to be a god later, but apparently the story is that he was one of the original Tevinter Magisters who ventured into the Maker’s golden city in the Fade, and for their presumption the city was ruined and the darkspawn were unleashed upon the world. And he says there were no gods there when they went, but ancient lore says that there were and that the golden city was a land of wonder and glory and harmony and what not. Anyway, now he wants to go back to the golden/black city, because…something something he’ll be a god again, or finally, or whatever. Like I said, a bit hazy so far.

3) I don’t know who you’re talking about. Ha.

Thoughts:
1) Dude, I didn’t save ANYONE in Haven. I was all panicky running around trying to figure out where I had to go, taking wrong turns past burning buildings, and accidentally clicking on supply kits when I still HAD 7 potions, and I just…missed those missions.

Now everywhere I go I meet new people in the places where people already were in Haven (the forge, etc.) and the conversation is always “OK, so you’re replacing THE PERSON I ALLOWED TO DIE, right?” [bursts into guilty tears].

The guilty tears are in my imagination, but they sting all the more for that. Because every freaking person I knew (well, vaguely interacted with, I wasn’t exactly best pals with anyone) in Haven is dead. Way to go, me.

Except what’s-his-name, the horse guy, he made it. And my war council and companions, of course. Anyway, the guilt is profound. And the message of “you can’t save everyone” (or, apparently, anyone) is keenly felt.

2) I also had two rogues to defend the trebuchet, because I’m a rogue myself, and yeah, an extra fighter wouldn’t have been out of place. It took me a while to figure out that I didn’t actually have to KILL that giant bastard that showed up, I just had to live long enough to wind up the damn trebuchet (which took approximately forever). Did you stick it out until you killed him? I tip my hat to you if so. I just ran around like a frenetic hamster dodging blows and giving the wheel a couple of turns every now and then until eventually it was fully wound. At which point, like magic, all the bad guys vanished…which I was happy to accept at the time but which in retrospect was not exactly a believable narrative.

3) YOU CASUAL GAMING LOSER YOU.

4) I don’t judge. (LOSER.) But seriously, that was a tough sequence because yeah, there was no good option to save until it was done, and you don’t want to have to restart the whole thing (although maybe I could have saved someone’s life…sniffle). I’ve gone to casual before myself, and I’ll do it again.

5) I also appreciated that humanizing of Roderick…he’s not a TOTAL irritating jerk after all! Also, he was helping people besides you, so I think redemption is OK to say…everyone in Haven benefited from his memory, not just you. (Well, not the people who were already dead because I DIDN’T SAVE THEM, but everyone else.)

6) Yes. The automatic “click X,” which I generally apply to everything at all times (“is there an X? Click it!”) was a bad habit there. I wasted at least one supply cache because I clicked it before I was out of potions, AND while people were still wounded. Damn you, self! Have everyone heal up, use all the potions you can, THEN replenish! Sigh.

But we both survived. That’s the important thing. (SO MANY OTHERS were not so lucky, because I FAILED THEM. But I survived.)

Seriously, it seems like all of Skyhold is about reminding me of the people I didn’t save. (You know: EVERYBODY.) I think I’ll spend most of my time out adventuring, not because I want to accomplish anything specific, but just because the memories back at the base are too painful.

Whatever motivates you, I suppose.

Butch:

Ok, figures. I just missed what Cole said when he came in. Not what I expected. Part of me says “Play with the damn subtitles,” but that breaks immersion.

AH! That’s it. So Corypheus is all challenging basic religious tenets, was it Tevinter’s fault, was the Maker a big dirty liar, did they really kill Andraste, all that. What is a real savior? Does literal truth matter in the ways of faith? Themes! I found some themes!

I saved a couple of people, but I’m not sure cuz I was bad with names. Lysette! I saved Lysette! Who the fuck was Lysette? That’s going to add to the social issues.

“Hey where’s the tavern girl?” “Dead, Evelyn, you didn’t save her.” “But I saved Lysette!” ****sigh**** “Lysette is the researcher.” (I think) “Then who’s Stennit?” *****bigger sigh***** “The merchant guy.” “What about Therrin?” *****bangs table**** “One of the many that DIED FOR YOUR CAUSE!” “Pfft! Maybe if I could have flirted with them they’d still be alive.”(Companion runs off to join the templars)

I did kill the giant guy, because every time I tried to turn the wheel, I’d get hit, and I’d stop turning, and eventually said fuck it. Which was kinda anticlimactic, because I killed the guy, then had to spend about 45 seconds turning the thing.

I had to restart mid stream and, happily, it autosaved. I hit something I’ve never hit: the game crashed. I got to the first trebuchet, you know, fight from chantry to trebuchet, do that bit, and, right as it fired, it started to load the cutscene and hung up. Just kept loading. Had to quit out of the game and reboot. Luckily, it started me at the trebuchet fight, which wasn’t so bad. Worked fine after that. Weird. Only time I’ve ever had that happen to me on the PS4.

Re: Roderick, it’s nice they’ve addressed this. Look, I love Bioware, but they do have a history of having non-party NPCs be a bit one dimensional. Even BIG NPCs, like, say, the Illusive Man, are more clean cut than they should be. It’s odd, cuz they write the best in party NPCs in gaming, bar none, not even close. Good to see this game is closing the gap.

Oh God, I’ve done that too-early-click with every supply cache in the game. It’s cuz they’re such a relief! “Hooray! Whoo hoo! Click! I’ve been looking for this!” and you are so amped you forget to check who’s hurt first.

They do not replenish jars of bees, however, which would have been SOOOOO handy.

The flirting, though, is done at home. Reasons to stay around Skyhold even if riddled with guilt.

Feminina:

Well, Cole just shows up, muttering about a glimpse of movement in the dark or something. He sort of…rambles. I don’t think you missed anything important. I have the subtitles on, I’m not proud. They only show up if I wait, though, so in most conversations I never notice. It’s only if I miss something and wait for the subtitles (or if I just pause to think about my response) that they show up.

Yeah, lots of potential themes here with the Elder One and his challenge to Chantry lore, and are the gods/is the Maker real and so forth. There’s a whole religious are you/are you not the Chosen One thing, too, and they really let you play that the way you want.

Whenever it comes up you usually have dialogue options from “I AM the Chosen One!” to “Yeah, I don’t actually believe in that.” (I generally go with the “I’m not sure” one. Because…I’m not, man.) But it’s all kind of just something you either accept on faith, or don’t. I mean, there’s SOMETHING going on, on account of the whole Fade/demons/rifts thing, but is it related to the Maker’s City and Andraste, or something else?

The elves have a whole other explanation for the Fade, apparently.

It’s interesting that they leave this a matter for debate. Even knowing that magic is real, and the supernatural is all around us, we still don’t know if it comes from a god, or if it’s just there, or what.

Butch:

Ok, good, as long as I’m not missing stuff. Well, every bioware game will show you the last thing someone said if you wait around long enough. I guess they figure the long pause and the wheel broke immersion already. Usually, though, I find this unhelpful.

“Wait, what? I’ll wait to see what he said.” ******”So as I just explained, that is the most crucial thing to know.”******“Fuck.”

Yup, complexity. Which is cool. Contrast Shep, who WAS THE CHOSEN ONE! I wonder if you have a choice. After all, in the first big trailer, Morrigan (not that I watched it more than once) ended by saying “Will you stand against it? Or will you see this world to its bitter end?”

I’m pretty agnostic, too, and I keep taking the “hey, man, I didn’t ask for this shit” option, too.

And the dwarves have no connection to the fade at all. And a very iffy relationship to the Chantry. Hell, there was no Chantry in Orzamaar until I set one up (or helped) in DA2.

I do like the way they’ve adapted the standard D&D classes of the wizard and the cleric. You still kind of HAVE them, since Templars are sort of clerics, but unlike with D&D, you don’t have that strong a sense of the cleric’s patron god. I mean, obviously the Templars work for the Chantry and serve Andraste (or at least they did), but is that really where they get their supernatural power, or is that just their explanation for it? Kind of the latter, because the story seems to be that they get their power from lyrium (rather than, as in D&D, praying to the Maker each morning or whatever), and lyrium just exists in the world.

It’s always been a very interesting culture they’ve built, right from DAO, and I like that it’s only getting more complicated as we go. There’s not just Thor the Thunder God who physically exists somewhere and who grants his clerics spells every day (not that there’s anything wrong with that model, which works great in D&D)–there’s a whole vast system that no one really understands, but people try to explain, as people will.

Butch:

Ah, wait, though. Seekers do NOT get their power from lyrium. Cassandra says that. It’s from meditating and doing like a vision quest and faith and shit. They’re more the straight up cleric types, and the templars are sort of fake pretending templars.

Also tie into the theme: Lyrium can mess you up. Sure, red lyrium is a mess, but you can OD on regular lyrium. We’ve seen that before. Faith=insanity? Or just fake faith.

They are great, great world builders, it’s true.

As for D&D, most, if not all, modern western RPGs all stem from D&D in some way. Bioware especially. Remember, they came to prominence with the Baldur’s Gate games, which explicitly used Version 2 rules, right down to THAC0. Spells, monsters all, right out of the hardback books.

But then, in D&D’s defense, the whole point of D&D is to let the DM (GM, whatever) craft a world with its own lore, politics, etc. They gave the framework, sure, but all the bits that bioware does so well D&D left to the DMs of the world. Or the Biowares, really, as Baldur’s gate 2 was basically a really good D&D game where they were the DM, they rolled the dice, and you didn’t have to put up with power-gamers/rules-lawyers.

Feminina:

True, there is the Seeker approach. And mages use lyrium to regenerate mana, but their magic doesn’t COME from lyrium. So there are several difference paths to the use of magic power — one being a quality that you’re just born with (which is sort of a defect, given that it can lead to demonic possession), one being a mental discipline, and one being, essentially, a drug trip — and each one results in a different kind of magic…but it’s all, essentially, magic in that in bends the rules of reality. (Of course, so does a rogue’s ‘sneak’ or a warrior’s ‘taunt,’ so we have to remember the sort of reality we’re working with).

Some fairly significant, if early-in-plot for normal players, spoilers for Dragon Age: Inquisition

Butch:

Shit you weren’t kidding when you said Stuff. Happens.

Didn’t see THAT coming.

So I binge played. I went into the future, and did that whole thing. I just got back from the future, and all I did when I got back was flirted with Josephine, cuz, you know, that would be the first thing you did when you got back from that.

Did NOT see that coming. Watching Leliana die kinda sucked.

I wound up feeling bad for the bad guy. He was protecting his kid! Nice twist. Now I feel bad for making fun of his hood.

Not sure I trust Freddie Mercury.

So really, the one real branch I got to was that I conscripted the mages. I was mad. They did sell out Tevinter, but they ALSO sold out mages in general. I am a mage, and that shit, all that ten years of slavery shit, was uncool.

Evelyn is new to the world, and she isn’t really liking the bits that aren’t flirting, so she was mad. Her first step to being jaded! She can teach Blackwall all about it. But he did not like the fact I conscripted the mages, so maybe he’s getting over it. Sera greatly approved. Did the whole bit with Cassandra, Sera and Dorian. I figure if I had had Varric, all that red lyrium would have led to banter.

Feminina:

So much story.

Yeah, I did not predict that we were going to be flung into the wasteland of the future and learn that nearly everyone we know is dead and that Leliana’s spent a year being tortured…but he was just trying to help his kid! Joel in TLOU would get this guy. Even with the horned hood.

I did it with Iron Bull and Cassandra…Solas was with me at first, but wound up dead in a cell while Dorian took over helping me. I don’t know that I care for Dorian’s twirly mustache, but he does provide an interesting perspective on the Tevinter, about whom, as we were just discussing, we really haven’t known much up until now.

The way that Iron Bull (or, in your case, Sera) and Cassandra were sort of glowing red was pretty creepy. There was overall an effective atmosphere of horror and desolation in this bit, such that I was quite glad to get back to the normal world where not everything was burned to ashes and not everyone was dead. I went to talk to Leliana right after, myself. Guess Josephine is really growing on you.

I tried to make nice with the mages, more for the sake of the rest of them (who weren’t really responsible for Fiona’s actions) than to be friendly with Fiona (although come to that, she may not have really been responsible for her actions either, at least not as regards signing up with the Tevinter dude), and took them on as allies rather than conscripts. I got a lot of disapproval for that from nearly everyone except Solas. Sera really didn’t like it. She does not trust mages much.

So we’ll see how that works out for me.

Butch:

Yup. Poor Leliana. She’s one tough bitch she is.

Joel so would get this guy! Joel would go get a hood. But Joel WOULD have succeeded in ending the world.

Whoa, what? I thought Dorian was a lock in for that mission. I just took him, Cassandra and Sera and that was it. Solas died? Maybe that was a mage thing. Sera was well done. She doesn’t believe it’s you and freaks out, terrified. Was kinda creepy. But you get her to come around and she just gets mad.

Dorian is rather dashing for a Tevinter. He certainly has a better complexion. He must buy mustache wax at the same place Morrigan buys eye shadow.

Where the hell is Morrigan?

Josephine was right there outside the war room, is the thing. Right there.

They did do a very good job making that desolate and scary. And really end of the world. I mean, did you find the journal that pretty much said everyone was dead? Like, everyone?

Dude doing all he can to protect his kid when all others are dead. Yeah, played that.

I got Greatly approves from Sera, Approves from Cassandra, disapprove from Blackwall and greatly disapproves from Solas. I was mad. They kinda helped end the world, there.

How much farther ahead are you? Have you closed the rift? Cuz that seems to be the next thing I have to do.

Feminina:

Nah, Dorian was locked in on that mission–I just meant I stumbled across Solas’ deteriorated body in a cell. I think. I mean, there was a body, and then later I talked to him and told him “I saw you dead” so presumably it was him…but Dorian was the only option to actually play through it with.

Right now we’re at basically the exact same place in the game, because I haven’t closed the breach yet. After that intense story bit, I felt that a trip back to the Hinterlands to collect shards and ride horses was in order, so I haven’t moved on. Also, I went back to the bandit camp and challenged the leader, who was standing right there this time. I swear I walked all over that damn camp before and couldn’t find him, but…whatever. I got me some bandits now.

Next time I play I’m going after the breach, though, because I’m pretty much out of stuff to do in other regions. At least, stuff I can do (some locks still need to be picked, and I’m just not taking on those dragons right now). I need to open some new lands!

I can’t even find any more shards, and I need lots more to open those temple doors, so I know there are more out there somewhere.

Butch:

Oh good. Though you’ll be ahead of me soon. Tonight, if I get a chance, I’m going to just stroll around chatting with people about seeing them dead, and, you know, telling them they still looked hot in the future, then I’m busy as all hell for the weekend. Charge blindly on!

Yeah, I’m stumbling on locks. Another reason I’m glad you’re ahead of me: if I get that perk, and schlep back through all that shit to open those locks and there’s like a suit of leather armor and 8 gold, I will throw controllers. Did you come across the dragon and giant fighting? Cuz yeah, they don’t look like dudes to fuck with at this time.

I have enough shards to open one door, I think. But that’s it.

Feminina:

I don’t think I specifically saw a dragon fighting a giant, but I’ve come across two dragons whom I’ve just discreetly avoided. Well, first got fried by, then discreetly avoided. There’s a whole extra section of Hinterlands behind the dragon-valley there, and I can’t get into it because–dragon. Although I did find that if you just lurk inside the cave near your camp, the dragon will eventually go away and you can go out and explore the main valley…because the dragon goes and hangs out in the second section, which you’d best not go into because if you poke your head out there it will fry you.

Anyway…we’ll deal with dragons later. I’m about 30 hours in, on a game that normal people say takes 85 hours: meaning I’m probably 18 hours in, in normal person time. That means there’s a LOT of time to go places and get tough and come back to deal with dragons.

There are…I think maybe 10 doors in that temple. And they all take increasingly large quantities of shards to open. I’ve opened I think five of them. I need a hell of a lot more shards. This, more than the size of the regions we’ve seen so far, makes me think “maybe this game IS freakin’ huge.”

Because…if there are that many more shards scattered around out there, there must be a lot more large regions for them to be scattered in, and a lot more story to get us there. Story! I mean, obviously our attempt at closing the breach is either not going to work, or is only going to set off some new horror, because there’s no way this is the end of the game. So…what’s next? Is it incredibly monstrously huge? Time will tell.

I do appreciate that the shards are actually good for something, and that they’re good for a kind of cool, useful but not critical thing (so if you just hate collecting shards, you could totally just ignore them and still make it through the game). At least I’m not running all over creation picking up these things just because they exist.

Butch:

The dragon/giant fight was on the storm coast. By the beach. Sera freaks and goes “Can we watch? Can we watch? Pleeeeeeeeeese.”

Our timing IS different. I mean, the thing was supposed to blow up at ten hours, and it hasn’t.

I do know, and this isn’t a spoiler, that we don’t have our main base yet. Nope. We’re still flying without the Normandy.

TEN temple doors? I’ve found three. Well, the first door took some shards, then I’ve found like, hot, cold, calm.

It is kinda funny that, given the fan backlash to the red/blue/green ending of ME3, that was the first little “choice” they give you. Winking, no doubt. Do the mass relays explode when you go through?

This is not the end of the game. 1) no Morrigan. 2) I peeked at the trophy list, and there are “signpost” trophies, and, well, no, this isn’t the end of the game. We don’t have our base yet.

You know, when DAI got delayed, I moped. But it turned out to be good, as I didn’t finish TLOU until like November 10th. Given this is bigger than I thought (cuz we play so damn slowly), maybe this Witcher delay is a good thing. I’m looking at the calendar, and I think we’re still gonna be playing in May.

Feminina:

Ha! Sera would want to see that. And throw bees at it.

That sounds familiar…maybe I did see it from a distance, but hightailed it in the other direction so fast I didn’t quite realize what I was looking at other than “dragon!–let’s move, people!”

We have plenty to keep us busy until May. It’ll be fine.

Mass relays in the temple…good one. Maybe there are teleportation devices somewhere inside! I don’t know, because I don’t have enough shards to get through all the doors.

Butch:

Yeah. Varric responded “No, can we leave and not get eaten?” Sera and Varric don’t really like each other. It’s great. Have you had Sera ask Bull if he’s thinking of teaching her the Qun?

I hung around watching in the hope that one of them would die, the other would leave, and I’d snag loot. But neither did. I was there a while. Dragons have a lot of special attacks. bad news.

Probably no teleportation devices, but if I do wind up on Omega, I’m SO taking Sera, Varric and Bull to Purgatory.

Feminina:

Yeah, dragons are nasty. I tried to creep by one, all sneaky, just to check out what was on the other side of it and maybe loot a little, but even though I told everyone “hold position” they still came running when they saw the dragon (apparently through my eyes, because I left them around a corner) and started fighting it. We really couldn’t even make a dent in it.

I was annoyed because I was TRYING to be sneaky, and here they came charging in full speed ahead and got everyone killed. Thanks a lot for trying to have my back, jerks. Ha. I know, you mean well, guys, but honestly…sneaking isn’t sneaky with three people running after me. It just isn’t.

Butch:

That was true in the other DA games, too. Hold position was always a bit approximate.

That’s another way you can tell how much more time you have in an RPG: If there’s still baddies that aren’t bosses you can’t dent, you got a ways to go.

[next day]

Last night I just chatted up people in haven. Dorian has a lot to say. Didn’t play long. Mrs. McP came home, didn’t want to work, and did want to drink. If I have time tonight, maybe I’ll schlep out to the oasis and open a door just to see what’s what. No way I’m going to have the time to devote to DAI that I’ll need to do the rift until next week. Have you hit it yet?

Feminina:

I closed the breach last night. There’s…a story there. Did some stuff. Got the Normandy, to use your analogy. Now need to regroup, talk to everyone, maybe try to find some shards and take a few breaths. They did some interesting stuff with these scenes…we’ll discuss later.

Butch:

Like, lots of story? Stuff Happens? Do we meet other people? And is this the point where the game gets big that I’ve heard so much about?

Feminina:

I basically got through some story to a pause point and then paused, so I’m not totally sure what things are going to look like when I get back into it, but there was a definite sense of suddenly increased depth to the story. Like, oh, HERE’S what this is about.

Everything we’ve done so far looks a bit like prelude, now.

There aren’t a ton more locations on the map yet or anything, but…things have happened. We learned some stuff. And singing! You’ll love it.

Butch:

Ah. Yes, that must’ve been it. The Boom moment.

Which is pretty staggering. (I did read online that someone said this game had a 25 hour tutorial.) I’ve now spent more time on DAI than I did on TLOU (and I finished TLOU) and I’m not even up to what it’s about? Damn.

Things! I love it when Things Happen. And singing. Love that Ballad of Sera.

Shit, now I want to play, but noooooooo I have to do useless shit like buy food and watch the kids.

Feminina:

Stupid food. And kids. And kids needing to eat food. It’s not fair! We should be playing games right now!

Butch:

I know! It’s like they want to eat every day! Sometimes more than once! The nerve!

Ok, so I went to redcliffe, got a bunch of really important side quests, like, find a ram, and met the first enchanter, who didn’t remember me (huh?) and has sold out to Tevinter. Didn’t see that coming. I left it with getting a “meet me in the chantry” note (never good).

Story!

I got this cool conversation with this mage who remembered me as a goody two shoes in the circle, didn’t like me, and thought that Tevinter was great because at least the mages are free. She did NOT like me. Catty.

Also, even though it would put three rogues in your ranks, you owe it to yourself to find some time to run around with Sera and Varric together. Their banter pretty much wins.

Feminina:

I know, right? Story! Something Weird is going on here.

And you have to figure that Something Weird is also going on with our friend Lucius the head Templar, who was apparently acting completely out of character there in Val Royeaux, just as Fiona seems to be acting out of character by having unilaterally declared that the mages are all going to work for Tevinter (also not remembering that she invited you there herself–if she did)…the same weird thing? A different weird thing? Two competing weird things?

I’m very curious as to whether they wrote two completely different stories going forward, or had basically the same stuff take place, just with Templars instead of mages. You’ll see what I mean when you go to meet someone in the Chantry: stuff gets weird. But does it get weird in a way unique to the mage plotline, while meanwhile back at Templar Ranch stuff is getting a whole other sort of weird, or is it a situation where if you chose to go look for the Templars, you’d encounter the same basic story?

We HAVE to read the wiki afterwards. Or Mr. O’L has to follow the Templars…he’s basically caught up to me at this point, but I’m not sure if he’s picked a side yet or not–he’s pretty dedicated about side quests.

Anyway, exciting stuff.

Butch:

Well I certainly don’t trust Mr. Tevinter. I mean, a) he’s Tevinter, and, despite the fact that I don’t think I’ve met anyone from Tevinter in ANY game thus far, we pretty much know they’re bad news, right? And he shows up RIGHT THEN? Hmm. I think not.

I won’t read wikis at this juncture, but I have to guess that the stories were at least pretty damn similar, if for no other reason that it was, even early in development, a foregone conclusion that there was going to be a DA4. People like continuity. There’s already some exponentially large number of possible world states in DA Keep. If they had written two completely different games, then DA4 would either have had to scrap it all and start over or be SO complex at the start as to burn down the internet.

See, while it’s clear to me that they played a lot of Skyrim before they made this (that’s been well discussed), I also think they played a lot of Witcher 2 (I’ve already commented on the search mechanic, see also the targeting in combat and the wheel that pops up when you hit L1).

TW2 had this major branch where you picked a side of a war, and the war was pretty much going to play out the way it was going to play out regardless (with a few tweaks, ok more than tweaks, here and there, but still, same story arc). This particular branch feels a lot like that Kaedwen/Iorveth branch. (it was very convenient in TW2 that the battlefield was separated by this ghostly thing that only Geralt could cross and all. Nice of the ghosts.) That was a game that KNEW it was going to have a sequel. Can’t get too non linear.

Feminina:

We met a few Tevinter mages in DAO…remember, we had to break up a slaving ring in the alienage or something? I mostly remember looting a bunch of different flowing mage robes from them, and putting Morrigan in them for a while because I thought it would be a nice change of pace for her.

But yeah, we have had little experience with Tevinter…ians?–and what we’ve had has not been particularly positive. There is the “they treat their mages better!” argument that could be attractive to a bunch of rebel mages, but this whole “yeah, I just signed us all up for 10 years of servitude” or whatever is very sketchy.

I’m pretty much with you on the suspicion that it would be the same basic story whichever side you pick…continuity, plus just saving writing/programming time and not having to create two competing awesome stories while knowing that a lot of people would never experience half of what you’d spent all that energy on.

If that’s true, though, it will be interesting to see how they explain the other side’s weirdness in-game. I mean, if we play it out and see that OK, THIS is why the mages were acting weird, then that presumably is not why the Templars were acting weird, and vice versa.

Although I suppose it could be a matter of “[noun] was working on [plot] from two different angles, using both mages and Templars, and you just happened to intervene in the right place at the right time to experience [story].”

Butch:

Oh, right. I think I did the same thing with Morrigan. For like, two minutes, cuz, let’s face it: those robes were….important to her…uh….character. Still, that wasn’t all that big a plot bit.

Plus, didn’t some rather likeable characters, like Sten, fight them? I mean, anyone Sten doesn’t like must be pretty nasty. Plus, this dude has that bad guy look. I mean, who wears a leather hood with horns who isn’t a bad guy? And smirks doing it? Bad guy. Never trust smirking dudes in leather horned hoods. Good rule to live by.

Yeah. CDPR got away with the giant mutli-branched story in TW2 a) cuz they’re awesome and b) it really WASN’T two stories and c) the regions weren’t anywhere near as big as these. I mean, the whole Keadweni camp bit I played wasn’t as big as just the hinterlands, so it wasn’t on this scale. Making one game of this scale is hard enough.

Figuring out the plots, this is why we play! There is a story past “cute elves!” right? Right? I mean, right?

Feminina:

You a make some very good point about the Tevinter dude’s headgear and expression. Smirking while wearing a horned hood DOES kind of say “hey, don’t trust me” to everyone you meet.

Of course, you never know, he could turn out to be a sweet guy just trying to help everyone out and the hood was handmade for him by his grandmother (a very nice ogre), but as a general rule, being wary of him until we know otherwise seems justified.

Butch:

It does. Really, bad guys should get wardrobe consultants. It tips their hand. They should wear, I dunno, Morrigan’s robes or Allistair’s armor. Then it’s all good.

Says “Thanks, grandma! It’s great!”

Thinks “Shit, now EVERYONE will think I’m evil. I KNEW I should have had that permanent smirk taken care of at the plastic surgeon, but everyone said it made me look carefree, but NO….evil. I’ll be so misunderstood! All I want to do is dress in drag and sing The Ballad of Sera at the tavern karaoke night!”

Context: we’re still playing DAI. As we will be for approximately the next decade.

Butch:

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

“Hey I found this piece of a moldy, moth-eaten flag.”

“I STRONGLY approve! Have sex with me!”

“Oh, and I’m pledging the support of my vast, powerful, and probably holy army to the service of the order to which you have dedicated your life.”

“Meh, whatever. Got any more of that flag?”

Minefields, bioware relationships.

Feminina:

Ha! They are indeed minefields.

Though to be fair, that moldy flag was AWESOME.

Butch:

Must’ve been. Cuz I found a piece of it and Blackwall practically ravished me. Calm down, Blackwall. I dig sassy nuts elf chicks. How to get on her good side……..

I’m just a heartbreaker.

Well, in retrospect it may not have been the flag. I am damn fine, and he has been alone in the wild for a long time, if you know what I mean.

Feminina:

He has. He has been alone a long time.

Wandering, lonely in the wild, searching for a moldy flag…

Butch:

He also totally has low self esteem.

“I choose to be alone. People don’t like me. So I walk alone. In a lonely way. Probably my beard. Or my past. Which is bad. So bad I don’t even want to talk about it. So bad I joined a bunch of outcasts. Then cast myself out of them. Just because I felt bad.”

You take that, then of COURSE when a totally fly BBEBHBB* (the extra first B there is for “British”) hits the heart dialog choice, he’s totally smitten.

And when I break his heart, he’ll never be seen again.

Feminina:

Lonely. Sad. Outcast. Terrible secret in his past. He’s a classic tragic romantic figure, waiting for the love of a good woman to heal him. Just his bad luck you’re not that woman.

Butch:

Maybe he’ll stumble on a large horned qunari lass. He’ll be desperate and heartbroken. All set.

Context: Butch is reflecting on whether the timing will work, with the recently reported delay of The Witcher 3 release until May 2015.

Butch:

Really, what am I worried about?

Didn’t I say with TLOU that there’s always this pattern? First three weeks: Oh man, there’s so much here! I’ll never finish before X comes out! Next few weeks: Oh man, I’m chewing through it! I’ll be done five months before X comes out! Next while: Oh man, I did it just right! Two weeks before X comes out: Shit! I’ll never finish! Gotta play my ass off! Five days before X comes out: Shit, I shouldn’t have finished it last night.

I really gotta get to the sword coast tonight.

Feminina:

Go to the coast! The coast has Iron Bull, plus quite a bit of questage. And shards, which you will need to open all those doors inside the main door of the temple in the Oasis. I actually had enough shards to open a couple of them, and then I ran out, so…must go hunting more shards. At least they’re good for something, which is more than we could ever say about Animus fragments.

Butch:

Is it worth it? Cuz if I spend forty-two hours chasing them to get a necklace that isn’t any good, I will shout “SKYRIM!” and throw a controller.

Feminina:

Worth it…the coast? Well, you gather materials for Requisitions and potions, shards for doors, loot to sell, and gain XP for leveling. There’s not much in the way of significant story as far as the main plot is concerned, other than Iron Bull, but it’s good for toughening yourself up for later adventures.

Worth it, the shards?–there’s a bit of a handy reward there. Non-critical, but useful. I kind of like it.

Plus, the coast has warden things to look for to earn Blackwall’s approval! Because you clearly want him.

Butch:

I do not. I have been searching for ways to curry favor with Sera, but, short of doing war table missions, I got nothing. I’ve listened to her song a few times, and keep trying to request it, but you can’t do that, and she doesn’t seem to be noticing.

I am going to crush Blackwall’s soul.

Feminina:

Yeah, I’m not sure what Sera likes yet. She’s not wild about mages, which is unfortunate for you, but I’m sure you can win her over with your charm and good taste and the way you aren’t possessed by a demon that makes you kill everyone in sight.

Poor Blackwall…

Butch:

She’s not? She hasn’t mentioned. Bah.

Ah well. There’s always Josephine. She likes me.

Feminina:

Maybe Sera’s being polite, on account of you’re a mage. Although that doesn’t sound like her.

I’ve said a couple of pro-mage-freedom things and had her disapprove, so I think she’s suspicious of them. But again, you might win her over by being awesome. Don’t give up hope! You can change her mind!

Butch:

I figure, if romance proves too difficult in this one, then I make up for it in TW3. Geralt has NO trouble. Maybe the delay is for more nudity. I’m cool with that.

Sera approved when I flirted…….. But then, who wouldn’t?

Feminina:

Who indeed? You’re attractive and charming and possibly marked by Andraste! At least, I assume you’re playing more on the charming end of the scale, and less on the confrontational one. I’m pretty much staying away from the bottom conversation options, as usual. I don’t want to be a jerk!

It’s the same issue we had with Shepard: sure, you get some funny mean lines as a jerk, but you start to really question why anyone would hang out with you.

Butch:

I’m allowing myself to be jerky to people that a sheltered circle mage would be jerky to, or if I think said person would like jerkiness. For example, Josephine asked me what I thought of Haven. I picked the bottom option: “It’s a dump.” And she SO agreed. And approved. Cha ching!

My Shep was so nice to everyone he even would’ve creeped out the dudes that come to your house with the Jesus cards.

“Shep you cokcsuckingmuthafuckingassmunch!” “I see your point. I respect that in a warrior. And you’re kinda cute.”

Feminina:

Haha! Classic Paragon Shep dialogue.

Good point, some characters appreciate a little snark while others prefer the mild-mannered approach to all things. All part of the awesomeness of BioWare.

Butch:

I also think they, in learning from their past as they have, have intentionally made it that the top choice is not always the “right” choice in getting things done/people to like you. I mean, in past games, top=mensch, bottom=asshole. Now that’s somewhat more vague, and I like that. I find myself putting far more thought into my options, instead of just kind of knee jerking the top one.

Feminina:

I agree…I’m still tending toward the top or the middle option, but it’s less clear that this is always even the “nice” option, let alone that this is the one someone you’re talking to will respond to.

I like this–I remember trying to play Shepard this way, being jerky to Krogan because you figure they’d respect that brusqueness, and it not working out quite right. But that guy would have totally appreciated that comment!

Here, that guy probably WILL totally appreciate that comment. If you play it right, of course.

This seems to be better in DAI. Like I said, I picked the “It’s a dump” bottom option, and it led to all this really girly “OMG! It is like SO cold and nasty here” catty bonding shit. All this looking forward to better digs chumminess.

Yes, I am not afraid to blog that I successfully initiated catty bonding shit.

Feminina:

And here I was trying to be stoic about Haven and just said it was OK or something, and she changed the subject while secretly judging me for having low standards.

Siiiiigh. No catty bonding for me.

On the other hand, I was a non-sheltered alien mercenary before this, looked at with suspicion by all, so I suppose I DO have low standards (hey! a roof! this place is great!) and was just being honest.

It’s called role playing. Ha.

Butch:

She was so judging you. Judgy. I swear, I think, after I went to bed, the characters went over to the tavern, had cosmos, and did show tune karaoke with the bard.

It IS role playing!

So I chose to be a sheltered, rich academic with a thing for hot women and you chose to be a wanderer weirdo of the world who is happy with whatever comes.

I ignored the Hinterlands riding challenge for a long time because who cares, but finally I figured it would be easy XP, which it is, and would get that line off my quest list. The horse is incredibly pointless, though. I don’t think it even moves any faster than you do on foot. It looks as if you can fight from horseback?…so maybe there’s some advantage to warriors who try it?…I dunno, it’s not something I’m going to delve into.

Butch:

See? See? Horses are silly. Not as silly as swimming, but silly. I need no horse.

Feminina:

Now if only I had a bog-unicorn, though, THEN it would be awesome.

Butch:

Well, what wouldn’t be awesome about that? I’d bet we’d be screwing NPCs all over the place with that thing in our stable.

The only mode of transit that was awesome in an RPG was the car in FO2.

a) it really was faster and b) it had a trunk. Imagine the loot problems that would be solved if the horse had a trunk! Man, that trunk. I had so much shit in the trunk of that car. And if Mrs. McP reads this post and leaves a comment, it’ll be something referencing the very similar situation in my real car at this very time. And it won’t be a nice comment.

Feminina:

A trunk! That does sound awesome. If the horse even had saddlebags to carry loot, that would totally make it worthwhile. Because carrying loot is a big deal, and a horse would be an obvious solution to that problem! But no.

“Ooh, is that YOUR mummified horse out there with the rusty sword wobbling dangerously in its skull? Take me now!”

We should have spent the extra $10 for the Deluxe edition.

Butch:

It was a big trunk, too. So you could stash all this stuff and, if you needed something, you’d be all “Hey, I got that in the car!” and done.

Weirder shit has happened in bioware games than an NPC falling for someone with a sweet ride.

We so should’ve spent the extra $10.

Feminina:

I bet you found that horse in the Mire, though. Gross. I don’t need anything that comes out of that water. Unless it had saddlebags, then I’d manage to get over my disgust.

Although…I suppose one reason to try riding would be to see if a horse that you take into battle will fight. An extra body to draw some of the attacks is nothing to sneeze at sometimes, even if the horse isn’t a particularly good fighter. Hmmm…something to consider.

Butch:

You do it. Take the horse in. I don’t LIKE horses. Or swimming. Have I mentioned swimming?

I gotta go back to the mire cuz I’m one “diseased tissue” away from completing that requisition, and the fact that I’m carrying around four of them is skeezing me out. Maybe THAT’S why no one is flirting with me…..

Feminina:

“Hi there! You sure are cute!…and what an interesting odor…kind of like…is that rotting flesh?…oh look, I think I see my hulking spouse and six mewling children over there waiting for me…” [backing away]

After that requisition was fulfilled, I pretty much gave up on looting corpses in the Mire. I don’t WANT any more diseased tissue, thanks.

You weren’t even playing last night when I was on! I was GOING to go meet the warden, then go meet Iron Bull, but instead got distracted, did a couple of side quests, found some red lyrium, played with my inventory……(This isn’t Skyrim…..this isn’t Skyrim…..)

There was this one quest where I found some note from some raving dude saying he was going to hole up in a cave. Quest said, check it out. So I did. I get there, there’s this dude WAY in the distance. Quest said ‘Kill the apostate.’ I said, “What if I don’t want to kill the apostate? What if he’s just troubled?” But there didn’t seem much else I could do, so I killed him, got “quest completed,” and that was that. Sorta Bethesda there, DAI.

I did meet Blackwall, who seems like a neat character. Even flirted with him. But he’s so not my type, what being a dude and all. Then back to haven to do war table stuff and chat and flirt. Hopefully, Iron Bull tonight. Or rescuing those Ferelden soldiers down in the south bit of the map.

Feminina:

I played some last night, but the kid didn’t get to sleep until 8:30, so I might have missed you. I was only on from about 8:45 to 9:30. Just enough time to finally commit to a plot branch. Going after the mages. And, wow. Yeah.

Stuff. Happens. You’ll get there, we’ll talk.

And you know, this so far is maintaining a better hold on the narrative than Skyrim ever did. (As we hoped from BioWare!) You can wander around regions doing things, but you’ve always got this War Room map to go back to, with the looming green markers reminding you of the next thing you have to do, and even though I’ve spent plenty of time on other things already, that regular return to the map kind of keeps you focused on the main story.

“Something is going to happen here. There is plot ahead.”

Plus the fact that it’s not a true open world means that certain regions can be locked up until certain points in the story, so you can’t just wander aimlessly all over creation forever…you can only wander aimlessly over a certain limited section of creation, and sooner or later even the most dedicated wanderer is going to get bored or curious and think “OK, fine, let’s see what’s next.”

This stronger main narrative (or multiple narratives, since it looks as if things could be dramatically different on the Templar side of the story) means that we may be able to talk about the game more effectively than we’d feared, since we’ll at least both be following the story more closely than Skyrim required. And since we’re both taking the Mage plot, that will give us even more in common to discuss (although comparing the different storylines would also be interesting if we went that way…are you sure you don’t want to go look for the Templars instead? Maybe your mage is really, really concerned about what the hell they’re up to!).

Butch:

Ok. I’m looking forward to it. But, without spoilerage, does anything that’s on my plate as interesting get locked off at that point? Or can I return to gaze at shards or some shit later?

The advisors also help you keep focused. Sorta there to say “Um, dude? There’s a story.”

I also like using power as a gate. It’s nice to have a gate that’s more than “strong monsters over there will kill you if you try,” and it makes narrative sense (You need troops to do this, whatever). Nice touch.

Which is really, really good. Especially because I think it’s more curious than bored.

Indeed, there’s this sorta illusion of vastness. I was tooling about in the hinterlands yesterday looking for Blackwall and getting distracted, and, while so doing, found it easy to forget this wasn’t Skyrim (mountains, snow, herbs, etc.).

So I’d look at the quest map, and say what one said when playing Skyrim “It’s Over THERE? Dude. Too far. Screw that.” But then, see, it wasn’t. It was pretty close. Manageable. (Sometimes all too manageable, as “it’s too far away” isn’t a reason NOT to explore that red lyrium vein). So the hinterlands FEELS big, it feels all windy and mountainy and traily, but there isn’t 15 minutes of trucking about, there hasn’t been a bit where I’ve spent 10 minutes looking for a way up a mountain only to discover that it’s on the other side ofthe fucking mountain which is 20 minutes away, none of that. (Last night, I was looking for the way into the mountain lake bit where Blackwall was, and went the wrong way first, and actually was in the middle of thinking “Shit, am I have to go all the way over…” when I thought “Oh, there it is.”)

Maybe this all goes out the window at the next big bit, but for now, it’s a great balance of big but playable.

Knowing what you know, my next couple of steps are a) go rescue soldiers in the south and b) take Blackwall to storm coast to meet Iron Bull/find wardens. Sound smart?

I think you’re right. It may well turn out more linear than we feared.

I can’t pick the Templars, but We’ll have to wiki or ask Mr. O’ if the Templar way was really, really different. TW2, you got to this branch, and there were five or six HUGE characters, and two huge cities you just weren’t gonna see unless you replayed it a second time. That much. I mean, we couldn’t have discussed it at all. “Saskia? Who the hell is that?”

Feminina:

I’m still in the middle of the stuff that happens right after you pick ‘mage’ in the War Room and start that quest, so I don’t know if you can go back and collect more shards afterward completing that plot bit or not.

I assume so, and I hope so because I didn’t get all of them yet (I left all kinds of side quests half done, like Varric’s red lyrium deposits and Blackwall’s Warden memorabilia and so on), but I can’t say with certainty. I kind of moved forward with the expectation that I can still go back and revisit old haunts, but I could be wrong.

Your “free soldiers, find Iron Bull” course of action seems sound. I actually liked having Iron Bull around for the soldier-rescuing, just because he’s imposing in a fight, but it’s certainly not in any way critical. By the time you finish that, maybe I will have gotten through this quest and can at least say yes or no to the “can you go back” question.

Butch:

Good cuz I got started. Kids actually napped. I guess there is a silver lining to being woken up at 3fucking45. They nap, you play. I certainly thought “rescue soldiers” would be a scout, show up, have one big fucking fight, done. No, no. It’s a whole damn area with quests and beacons that attract all sorts of evil shit and stuff to find. Because of course it is.

Bees, man. Undead hate bees.

Lesson: You cannot say “I have an hour, I CERTAINLY will be able to accomplish X.”

Feminina:

Yeah, you can’t confidently plan to accomplish Specific Thing X unless it’s like “visit the War Room.” Other stuff winds up taking time. (Or not. Because I blocked out mental time for the ‘recruit Sera’ mission and it was nothing. So you just never know.) I STILL haven’t finished everything in that damn Mire where you rescue the soldiers.

Butch:

This game has totally changed the way I play on its head from TLOU. That game: there’s a trash bag in front of that door. No way to get in. This game: I don’t care if it’s barricaded, locked, and on fire. There’s gotta be a way in!

I almost had my first total party kill lighting one of those beacons, there. I was down to Sera at half health, and the tactic was stealth, run, tossing bees over your shoulder screaming. Strangely, this worked.

And on potions and all, one thing this game is doing well is placing camps at great intervals. Every time I’ve reached a camp, I’m usually haggard, wounded, and potionless, which makes it feel like a real accomplishment. Important in a way other than “Oh, good, fast travel point.”

Though one must wonder: that dude who pulled requisition officer duty at the mire camp? Who’d he piss off?

Feminina:

Stealth is pretty sweet. As a rogue, I like to use it to avoid getting attacked until I start disrupting a rift. Sadly, I can’t stay hidden while disrupting, because it’s annoying to get hit with something while you’re in the middle of it, but at least I can sneak away and let my party distract the bad guys while I get into a good position to hit the rift.

The camps are a good mechanic. In some regions they do still feel kind of far away from everything, so you have to hightail it back to camp to heal up and then run a long way back to wherever you were, but for the most part they work well.

You’re playing more cautiously than I am–I get us killed and or bail on fights all the time.

I do like mages…Solas has the freezy power, which is very nice. I like to see frozen enemies shatter into pieces.

Butch:

Nah, it’s cuz like all other DA games, mages are overpowered in the early levels. They get the crowd control stuff first. If I’m careful, I can get in chain lightning, and energy blast (which paralyzes) on a crowd before anyone gets a shot off, rendering the main dude fucked up and paralyzed and everyone else hurt. Evens up the score.

It’s these undead that appear in the middle of everything that are screwing up the plan.

Feminina:

The undead are multitudinous, which does render them annoying. Bunch of shambling jerks, always rising out of the water and overwhelming one. The piteous notes you find about people succumbing to the plague are a little heart-wrenching, but nothing like TLOU.

This game is a barrel of laugh riots compared to TLOU! Good palate cleanser, really.

Butch:

Aren’t they just? Yeah, coming out of the water. I was standing waist deep when Solas says “Disturbing the water will attract them.” Uh, dude? Could’ve told me that about five seconds ago. Well, it’s early in the game. We’ll work on the timing. But that shit will not get you flirts.

Reading about Sherman’s march to the sea is a riot compared to TLOU. Certainly needed.

Feminina:

I see there’s one unpickable (without getting an Inquisition perk) lock in the Mire, and a couple in the Hinterlands…maybe more, but those are the ones that come to mind.

Kind of an interesting choice to make just two levels of lock. Easy locks and harder locks, but no gradations in between, and no need (or option) to level up lock-picking as a skill the way we did in previous games. I guess it does simplify things. The whole skill development thing seems streamlined, which does make character development fairly straightforward. What do you want to focus on this level? What specific skill do you want to have? OK, done.

So I got through that story bit, and can report that yes, you’re free to go back and wander around previously-explored regions some more afterwards. I’m thinking it’s probably a lot like Mass Effect: up until the very endgame, there’s not a point of no return, and you can always go back to places you’ve been. It would make sense that since they give you so much to do and explore in these areas, they’d want you to have plenty of opportunity to visit them.

Butch:

They certainly seem to have made the inquisition itself the point where there’s customization. It’s HARD picking perks. I find the skill trees less of a challenge to beef up, especially with all the points you have. One thing I REALLY miss from DA games of yore is the character specific skills. Varric had a whole skill tree called “bianca” I think. Zevran had “Crow Assassin” or something, so each dude had stuff only that dude could do. This, it’s like, ok, Cassandra will be sword and shield and Blackwall will have two handed and….what? That’s it? I kinda feel like if Cassandra can make mage blood boil (she told me that, kinda a turn off, or was it a metaphor and she was coming on to me?) she should be able to, you know, DO THAT. Am I missing something?

Feminina:

If you’re missing anything, I’m missing it too. Agreed, I can find no special powers in the character records. I mean, Varric has Bianca and you can get Bianca-specific upgrades for it, so I suppose that’s one way of individualizing things, but there’s no “blood boiling” upgrade you can add to Cassandra’s armor, or anything, to take advantage of her presumed special powers. And I agree, the fact that there are only four skill trees does kind of limit the extent to which you can make them significantly different. You can say “OK, you focus on this line, and you focus on that one,” but yeah, two-handed weapon or sword and shield is pretty much it for fighting style.

Again, I guess it does simplify things. Maybe they felt previous character screens became unwieldy.

Butch:

And Varric pretty much has to be archer, and Sera sorta STARTED as archer….. I dunno. Let my characters be characters. You USED to do that! But ME didn’t do that so much, so OK.

But yeah, Cassandra was so casual about it. After the hinterlands, we’re shooting the shit, and I ask “So what do seekers DO?” and she’s all “Well, we have some powers,” I’m all “Yeah? Like what? Anything good?” And she’s all “Well MINE is that I can make mage’s blood boil and paralyze them.” I really, really wanted a dialog option that said “THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU DO THAT WHEN THOSE BAZILLION MAGES WERE KILLING US?” but they didn’t give me one.

Feminina:

I know! You can do a cool thing, Cassandra? Great! MAYBE TRY DOING IT SOMETIME.

Siiigh.

But look, we don’t know what Cassandra’s been through. Maybe there’s some trauma related to boiling mage blood that she’s just not ready to face. (That…actually sounds quite likely when I put it like that.)

Maybe she’ll get a special power tree later, when she’s worked through her issues. Maybe they all will. We have to be patient, and let everyone develop at their own speed.

No rush, everyone. Take your time. I want you to feel comfortable. I mean, it’s not as if there’s a hole in the sky through which murderous demons are continually pouring, or anything.

Butch:

Yup. Especially against, you know, MAGES who were TRYING TO KILL US! I mean, it isn’t like she can make lemonade appear or is really good at beer pong. That Mage thing would be kinda handy. This isn’t some parlor trick.

OK, we’ve been badly distracted playing Dragon Age: Inquisition, and haven’t started having deep thoughts yet on account of we’re too busy puttering around picking flowers and killing zombies.

Some semi-random commentary follows. No very significant spoilers, but we do mention NPC names and speculate about their romanceability and so forth.

Feminina:

I played a fair bit over the extra-long weekend, have gotten a fair bit done, and have reached what looks like the (first of many?) major plot branch where you have to pick one course of action to the exclusion of another.

Naturally I immediately ran off in commitment-phobic horror to do less momentous sidequests before I make that decision. Collected some loot. Picked up four new companions. Just met Iron Bull last night, and as a qunari myself am not sure if I’ll want to romance him ’cause we have that in common, or if I’d rather branch out…we shall see.

Butch:

Ok, is that plot branch Val Royeaux? Cuz I was planning on doing that next. The very last thing I did was spend some power to unlock Val Royeaux (where the game seems to want me to go), while scouting both the storm coast (where there are wardens) and the place that has to do with investigating shards. I should go to Val Royeaux, ya? Cuz I think I sorta have to play during kid nap today so I don’t go nuts.

Feminina:

Val Royeaux is not the branch point itself, although it unlocks a branch. But I would say go there, because you can do some plot stuff and get other quests, and you don’t have to lock yourself into anything yet. The companions are scattered around, not all in the same place, but Val Royeaux because will give you the option to meet two of them–another reason not to just go back to the Hinterlands, since more companions is more opportunities to chat with people!

Butch:

Have you done any other areas? Or did you just do the hell out of Val Royeaux?

Nice buildings. Why the masks? They’re hiding cuz they’re French.

Didn’t do all that much. Had other chores. Met the clerics, met a templar who was an asshole, started finding stuff from Red Jenny.

They make it very hard to like the templars. I sorta find that not so hot in a game about choice. I mean, you COULD like them, but they’re very nasty.

Feminina:

I did everything I could find at Val Royeaux (including the short spin-offs), and I went to the Fallow Mire to rescue some captive soldiers (whom I’ve yet to be able to rescue), and then I went to the Storm Coast. Oh, and back to the Hinterlands a couple of times, since it turns out that yes, you will wind up back there for quest-related reasons, so don’t worry about leaving it now.

Lots of gallivanting about.

I agree about the Templars. I mean, Cullen’s a (former) Templar and he’s OK, and that one young one in Val Royeaux who said “wait a second” before the main guy told everyone to shut up and march out could have been sympathetic, but we didn’t get a chance to really find out. As far as we know, they’re just a bunch of jerks. I mean, did you REALLY have to whack that lady on the head to get your point across? You could have just said “we’re leaving” and left…that in itself kind of does what you needed to do there.

The notion that they’re all bastards hasn’t gotten much counter-evidence, at least at the point where I am, although I have a bit more of a suspicion of where they’re possibly coming from…but the game does feel as if it’s weighted against the Templars right now, which is interesting. I wonder if maybe the mages are going to do something incredibly jerk-tastic to balance it out, or if the Templars will get a chance to redeem themselves (or both), because otherwise you almost have to lean towards siding with the mages in this war just based on personality.

Of course, we know personality isn’t always the way to judge, but if you just like one person more and another one acts like a bastard, it’s hard not to be inclined that way. I wonder to what extent this is intentional…after all, Bhelen’s people were the huge jerks in DAO, and Harrowmont seemed more sympathetic, but if you played it both ways you found out that Bhelen was a more effective ruler. Being a jerk in person doesn’t mean you’re going to ruin your country and all its people. Maybe the Templars will actually be a more effective overall force for good than a bunch of unchecked mages running around, even if they do trample a few individual human rights.

Just like BioWare to try to make us think.

Stop that! We just want to get laid! Which hasn’t happened yet, although I’ve gotten a bit of good flirting in.

Butch:

Oh I’m flirting with anything that moves. Keep your options open. That and I was raised in a boring old circle tower. Time to cut loose.

That’s also another reason to be down on Templars. I’m a Mage. They kept me locked up.

Feminina:

Yes, as a mage you do have a specific perspective on the situation that I as a mercenary rogue do not. Although you do run into mages who think that leaving the Circles was a bad idea, and that they and their kind are too dangerous to be allowed to roam around the countryside, so even among mages there are differences of opinion.

Speaking of specific perspectives, the game has been good at having people react to my qunari-ness, and people have commented that I’m an odd figure to be the “Herald of Andraste,” so my hope that it would be an interesting political situation to play as a qunari has been somewhat borne out. No doubt there are comments about the various odd aspects of all the character types and how they are all, in their own ways, not what you’d image as the Herald of Andraste, so I’m sure it’s not just this race/class, but it’s cool that they put the time into it to craft specific comments. This is why we love BioWare.

I’ve been flirting pretty indiscriminately, although I do slightly fear scaring people off by coming on too strong. Because I’m like 8 feet tall and have big horns and wear greenish face paint. Some people might find that intimidating.

I’ve already gotten a “thanks, but no” from two people, and I’m like “did I ask too soon? Or am I just not his/her type? Did I play that wrong, or was that always going to be the answer?”

So much uncertainty–just like real life! And just like real life, I’ll console myself with the thought that ‘no’ was always going to be the answer, and that we can continue to be friends and work together to destroy renegade Templars and mages and build a powerful religio-military institution dedicated to closing a hole in the sky. As one does.

Butch:

Yeah, I’m sorta playing Evelyn as someone who didn’t really want to rebel. She didn’t like the tower, but she also didn’t have much of a problem with the templars, as they left her alone, as she was well behaved, and really just wants peace, not all the running around killing dudes.

I’ve gotten a lot of “A mage calling herself the Herald is heresy!” stuff. And Solas was intrigued. I’ve also gotten a lot of dialog options that are mage specific. Had a long, flirty conversation with Josephine about how boring it was in the mage tower. She’s so into me.

Who’s already ditched you? I made Cullen blush, I got a “that….wouldn’t be prudent at this time” from Cassandra (though she did slightly approve, that’s something) and Josephine practically jumped me on the war table.

I’m telling myself that Leliana is still pining for my warden.

I have gotten over rejection and heartbreak by building SO many religio-military institutions. I mean, before I found whiskey. Both approaches have their pros and cons.

[Later]

Ok, Kotaku is discussing all possible sex scenes in DAI. Should we just go watch them all and pick our love interest based on how good they look in lingerie?

Feminina:

Cullen told me he’s not really looking for romance right now (maybe he will be later!), and another person, whom you’ll meet soon, kind of laughed and said “thank you, but no.” I haven’t really managed to get anywhere with Josephine…must seek her out for more flirting. Of course, I don’t have that ‘tower mage’ thing to talk about.

I like the idea of reviewing all the love scenes in advance and going from there, but it does kind of take the suspense out of the thing. Maybe for our second playthrough! Which we’ll totally get to because there’s nothing else coming out that we want to play! Ha.

I’ll probably review them all afterwards and see whether I made a good choice.

Butch:

Second playthrough. You are funny.

So I did get a bunch in last night. Met Sera and Vivienne, who I imagine you’ve also met. Got the quest to go find the Grey Warden in the hinterlands (who I’m guessing you have) and the quest to meet the Iron Bull. You got anyone else? Or is that the four you mentioned the other day?

I’m guessing Vivienne is the one who blew you off entirely, as when I flirted she said “don’t be absurd.” Is ok. I don’t dig bald women. That Sera on the other hand, is cute. She said I was cheeky. Her war table missions are awesome. I have Leliana out now on “the Inquisition needs beeeeeeeeeeeees.”

I’m also guessing the first branch point you mentioned yesterday was the “should we go get the mages or templars?” bit. Or did I miss something?

I’m pretty much going mage at this point, but I think I may go get that warden, mop up some stuff in the Hinterlands, then drift up to the storm coast with my new warden to a) check on those wardens and b) meet the Iron Bull, who sounds like a hoot.

I noted last night that, in what amounts to a week and a half, I have 11 hours in. It took me three and a half months to do 25 hours of TLOU. Ah, bioware.

Feminina:

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up! Vivienne shut me down completely, and those are the four companions I’ve picked up so far, and that’s the major branch point I’m (still) currently facing. And you see what I mean about the game being kind of weighted against the Templars to this point…it’s like, “Why WOULDN’T I go check out the mages as opposed to the Templars?”

I’ve already dedicated a much greater amount of energy to that option at this point, trekking off to Redcliffe and everything, and there are a lot of mages willing to talk to me and tell me they’re concerned about what’s going on, and I can kind of suspect that something similar is probably going on with the Templars as well (Cassandra did mention that this behavior was totally out of character for Grand Seeker Lucius), but still…I don’t have any particular emotional ‘in’ with the Templars, who’ve all just marched off and vanished. The mages are at least talking to me. Clearly, I would care more about figuring out what the hell is going on with them.

And then I just wonder if there’s something major and important that we’d find out by approaching the Templars instead…which, of course, there must be from a game standpoint…I mean, they wouldn’t design two branches for a plot and make one of them totally stupid and boring while the other contained all the interesting stuff. At least, one would certainly hope not.

But in any case, I’m going to follow up with the mages as soon as I finish up with a few things on the side. Requisitions, selling loot, looking for shards, fighting bandits. That sort of thing.

I also seized the opportunity to follow up on the “beeeeeees!” quest, which is too hilarious not to pursue. Although sadly I haven’t actually seen bees in action yet…I need to get Sera out with me and make her use them. I equipped them for her, but I guess it’s not at the top of her tactics list or something.

Stay tuned for more play-by-play musing and reports of our attempts to find love in a harsh, demon-infested world!